USA’s Liu, Yang Win Women’s & Men’s Cadet Foil at 2025 Wuxi Junior & Cadet Fencing World Championships
USA’s Jaelyn Liu and Luao Yang won gold medals in cadet women’s and men’s individual foil on the fifth day of the 2025 Wuxi, China Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships. The 9-day, 18-event competition is being held at the Wuxi Taihu International Expo Center, and today’s events included 107 women and 117 men competing.
Liu, who won junior women’s foil on the previous day, faced Korea’s Juhyun Jo in the final bout of cadet women’s foil, winning with an 11-5 score. In the semifinal round, Jo won against China’s Xinyi Zhuang, 15-10, while Liu defeated China’s Zhihe Tie, 14-3.
“I’m very exhilarated, I just didn’t believe this could come true, but it did”, said Liu. “I was going into juniors really well prepared and feeling super good, and I got pretty tired in the end, like all competitions work. I was willing to try my best, but my body was pretty crippled, so it wasn’t the best day and I had soreness and tightness, and had a lot of tight bouts. I kept telling myself I can make it and not just for myself, but for my entire family, that I’ve got this, I can make people proud and make myself proud.”
Yang faced Japan’s Ryoga Ono in the final bout of cadet men’s individual foil, winning with a 15-11 score. In the semifinal round, Ono won against Italy’s Marco Panazzolo, 15-10, while Yang defeated teammate Aiden Siu, 15-8.
“It feels great, I don’t think it’s really set in yet”, said Yang. “I couldn’t have imagined it this morning, when I dropped a bout in pools and I wasn’t feeling that great. After pools, I got more in the groove of it, and after my first DE I felt better and then I pulled through. I feel l can compete with the best-of-the-best, and I’m not worse than anybody.”
Final rankings in cadet men’s individual foil included Luao Yang (USA, gold), Ryoga Ono (JPN, silver), Marco Panazzolo (ITA, bronze), Aiden Siu (USA, bronze), Hyeonseok Ju (KOR), Masashi Maeda (JPN), Chun Lok Luk (HKG) and Shing Him Harris Ho (HKG).
